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ABOUT SRI LANKA
Sri Lanka, an island in
the Indian Ocean, is located south of the Indian
subcontinent, 880 km north of the equator. From
North to South it has a maximum length of 435 km and
at its widest point it measures 225 km. The total
land area is 65’610 sq. km. The current population
of Sri Lanka is estimated to be 21.3 million. It
encompasses beautiful tropical beaches, verdant
vegetation, ancient monuments and a thousand
delights to please all tastes.
The capital city, Colombo,
is a fascinating city, not only for a comfortable
blend of east and west, but also for a cosy mixture
of the past and present. It is the commercial centre
of the country and situated 34 km from the
international airport.
THE
HOST
The meetings are hosted by
the Government of Sri Lanka, represented by the
Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri
Lanka ( www.trc.gov.lk).
VENUE
OF GSR
The Hilton Colombo is
situated about one hour’s drive (34 km) from
Colombo’s international airport. It is located in
the heart of the city of Colombo, and surrounded by
7 acres site overlooking Beira Lake and the Indian
Ocean.
TRAVEL
Sri Lanka is directly
accessible by all major airlines from their closest
hubs. Sri Lankan Airlines is the national flagship
carrier operating from Colombo-Bandaranayake
International Airport to all major cities in Europe
and Asia. There are a number of international
carriers that also connect Colombo with all major
cities of North and South America, Africa and
Australasia via transit points.
VISA REQUIREMENTS
A valid passport is
required to enter to Sri Lanka. The expiry date of
the passport must not be less than three months
after your arrival date in Sri Lanka .
Visa applications will be
processed only for delegates whose participation has
been confirmed by ITU.
Visas can be requested
exclusively online through the host country website.
To access the system, you must use the confirmation
ID received from ITU and email address given at the
time of registration. After you submit your
confirmation ID, you access your private page where
you will see the status of your request for visa.
Click on "pending" next to "visa information" to
access the visa request form.
After validation of
your request, you will receive two documents: a
"visa comfort" letter issued by the
Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri
Lanka and an approval letter from the Department of
Immigration & Emigration of the Ministry of Defence
& Urban Development of Sri Lanka. The visa comfort
letter confirms your participation at GSR/RA and the
delivery on arrival of your entry visa while the
approval letter issued by the Department of
Immigration & Emigration of the Ministry of Defence
& Urban Development confirms that the entry visa to
be delivered on arrival at the Bandanarayake
International Airport, will be free of charge. You
will need to show these 2 letters at the time of
check-in and upon arrival in Colombo.
You can at any moment
access these documents at
Manage My Travel.
Spouses and children
accompanying delegates will also be issued with
visas on application. The registered delegate should
make a written request (quoting registration ID) for
the visa on arrival on behalf of his/her family
members. The request together with Passport details
of the family members should be mailed to info@gsr.lk.
Visa authorization will be issued within two (2)
weeks time from the date of submission.
Please have the following
information ready to complete the visa application
form.
- Surname/ Family Name
as it appears on Passport
Other/given Names
Title
Gender
Date of Birth
Country of birth
Nationality
Occupation
Passport Number
Passport Issue Date
Passport Expiry Date
HOTEL
ACCOMMODATION
TRCSL has block-booked a
number of hotel rooms in a number of hotels (see
table below) where special discounted rates are
available to the GSR/RA delegates.
To avail yourself of these
rooms, you are invited to make your reservations
through the host country using the online form
available at
www.gsr.lk/MyTravel/.
This will only be possible after your registration
is validated by ITU and you receive your personal
"Confirmation ID" from ITU. After you submit your
confirmation ID, you access your private page where
you will see the status of your hotel reservation.
Click on "pending" next to "Hotel reservation" to
proceed with the booking.
The room rates are
inclusive of breakfast and all applicable taxes.
Delegates are strongly
advised to make early bookings,
well
before the cut-off dates given for block bookings of
the recommended hotels,
in view of the heavy hotel bookings for the
International Twenty20 Cricket Tournament (World
T20) scheduled to take
place in Sri Lanka from early September to the end
of the first week of October 2012.
|
Hotel Name & Category |
Distance to Venue
km / minutes |
Type of Room |
No. of Rooms Reserved
Cut-off date for Bookings |
Cancellation Policy |
Net Room Rate (USD) |
|
Single |
Double |
Hilton Colombo (5*)
2, Sir Chittampalam A. Gardner Mawatha, Colombo 02. |
0 km / 0
Minutes |
Hilton
Guest |
100
30
September 2012 |
Cancellation should be done not later than 48 hours
before arrival, in case of late cancellation or no-show
one night will be charged. |
184 |
197 |
|
Hilton
Deluxe |
35
30
September 2012 |
222 |
235 |
|
Hilton
Executive |
15
30
September 2012 |
260 |
260 |
Galadari Hotel (5*)
64, Lotus Road, Colombo 01.
|
0.2 km / 3
Minutes |
Deluxe |
50
30
September 2012 |
Cancellation should be done not later than 48 hours
before arrival, in case of late cancellation or no-show
one night will be charged. |
171 |
182 |
|
Cinnamon Lakeside(5*)
115, Sir Chittampalam A.Gardiner Mawatha, Colombo 02.
|
0.5 km / 5 Minutes
|
Superior
Room |
25
30
September 2012 |
Unless cancelled prior to 7 days to the date reserved,
50% of one night room charge is applicable.
If cancelled within 3 days’ notice 1 night room
charge is applicable. Any no-shows, cancellations or
amendments
on date of arrival will be charged full. |
170 |
181 |
|
Premium
Room |
25
30
September 2012 |
189 |
200 |
Cinnamon Grand Colombo (5*)
77, Galle Road, Colombo 03. |
2.5 km / 10 Minutes |
Cinnamon
Room |
100
30
September 2012 |
Cancellation should be done not later than 7 days before
arrival, in case of late cancellation or no-show one
night will be charged. |
178 |
190 |
Blue Water Resort (5*)
Thalpitiya, Wadduwa Beach, Bentota / Beruwala |
31 km / 45 minutes |
Deluxe |
25
30
September 2012 |
If cancellation is done less than 7 days before arrival
- one night will be charged.
In case of no-show – two nights will be charged. |
135 |
135 |
Galle Face Hotel (4*)
2, Galle road, Colombo 3. |
1.5 Km / 7 Minutes |
Classic |
4
30
September 2012 |
Cancellation should be done not later than 48 hours
before arrival, in case of late cancellation or no-show
one night will be charged.
Reservations made for the late arrival (after 6pm)
should be guaranteed with the credit card, deposit or a
company letter in order to avoid possible room
cancellation. Early departure penalty fee is US 121. The
departure fee will be waived if the check-out date is
changed at the time of checking-in. |
193 |
193 |
Oceanic
Suite
|
44
30
September 2012
|
314
|
314 |
|
Standard
Room |
24
30
September 2012 (Only available from 1 – 4 October) |
200 |
200 |
Hilton Colombo Residence (4*)
200, Union Place, Colombo 02. |
2 Km / 10 Minutes |
Suite |
10
30
September 2012 |
Cancellation should be done not later than 48 hours
before arrival, in case of late cancellation or no-show
one night will be charged. |
222 |
222 |
Ramada Colombo (4*)
30, Sir Mohamed Macan Markar Mawatha Colombo 03. |
2 Km / 10 Minutes |
Standard |
20
30
September 2012 |
Cancellation should be done not later than 72 hours
before arrival, in case of late cancellation or no-show
one night will be charged. |
131 |
141 |
Mount Lavinia Hotel (4*)
100, Hotel Road, Mount Lavinia |
12 km / 30 Minutes |
Colonial -
Ocean View |
50
30
September 2012 |
Cancellation should be done not later than 48 hours
before arrival, in case of late cancellation or no-show
one night will be charged. |
140 |
150 |
|
|
|
Direct
Ocean |
|
|
145 |
158 |
|
|
|
Executive |
|
|
155 |
165 |
Renuka Hotel (3*)
328, Galle Road, Colombo 03. |
2.5 km / 10 Minutes |
Renuka
City Wing |
20
30
September 2012 |
Cancellations submitted after 12 noon (Sri Lankan time)
between 3 & 5 days prior to the date of arrival will be
charged one night.
Cancellations submitted within 3 days of the date of
arrival and no-show will incur the first 2 nights
charge.
Any early departure will incur 2 nights charge of the
remaining stay. |
118 |
128 |
|
|
|
Renuka
Wing
|
|
|
112 |
122 |
Grand Oriental Hotel (2*)
2, York Street , Colombo 01 |
1 km / 5 Minutes |
Standard |
16
30
September 2012 |
Cancellation between 7 days to 3 days prior to arrival
will be 50 % of the Room Charge.
Cancellation less than 3 days prior to arrival will be
charged 100 % of Room Charge. |
110 |
110 |
|
Deluxe |
135 |
135 |
*
All USD rates quoted are
indicative only and are subject to change.
Delegates are invited to check the latest exchange rates.
Several sites are available to check the latest
exchange rates of which
www.xe.com.
A shuttle bus service
will be available for delegates only from the
above recommended hotels and the GSR/RA-12
venue. The schedule of buses leaving to and from
hotels will be posted in the lobby of each of
these hotels.
AIRPORT TRANSFERS &
TRANSPORTATION
Transfers from Colombo
International airport to the recommended hotels
and vice versa will be provided
on
arrival and departure
to all GSR delegates who will provide their
flight information via the online form available
at
www.gsr.lk/MyTravel/.
This will only be
possible after the registration is validated by
ITU and you receive your personal "Confirmation
ID" from ITU. To access the system, please use
the confirmation ID and the email provided at
the time of registration. The status of the
flight information will be made available on
your private page. Click on "pending" next to
"Flight information" to access the form. You can
also submit your flight and hotel details (date
and time of arrival, airline and flight number,
date and time of departure, name and address of
your hotel in Colombo) to Mr H.P. Karunarathna
at
hpkaru@trc.gov.lk.
Only delegates having submitted their flight
information will be met by a representative of
TRCSL at the GSR delegates’ welcome counter set
up in the arrival area of the airport.
Transportation will also be provided to the
various social events organized by TRCSL for
delegates.
There are also many
companies providing cab/taxi transport services
at affordable cost. The following cab services
are recommended for transport needs of delegates
during their stay in Sri Lanka:
- Namdo Cabs, tel. +94 11 268 8688
- Kangaroo Cabs tel. +94 11 250
1501
HEALTH
REQUIREMENTS
There are no health
requirements for temporary entry to Sri Lanka
except that visitors from yellow fever infected
areas who should possess a valid certificate
against yellow fever.
CLIMATE
The climate of Sri
Lanka is typically tropical with humidity. The
average temperature of the country ranges
between 25°C and 30°C. Monsoon season is between
May to September in the South and West and
October to April in the North and East of the
country. These monsoons give Sri Lanka its only
seasons as it is located so near to the Equator.
During the period of the GSR, it is expected to
be 27°C in average.
Please visit
http://www.weather.com/weather/tenday/CEXX0001 to view
weather forecast of Colombo city.
LOCAL TIME
The local time in Sri
Lanka is UTC + 4.30 hours.
LANGUAGE
Sinhala, Tamil and
English are official languages in Sri Lanka.
English is widely spoken and understood. Place
names and signboards on buses and trains are
usually in all three languages.
ELECTRICITY
The electrical current
in Sri Lanka is 220/230 Volts/ 50Hz. The
electrical plugs are square type three-pin
plugs.
 
MONEY AND CURRENCY EXCHANGE RATES
The unit of currency
is the Sri Lanka Rupee (LKR), which is divided
into 100 cents. Notes are in denominations of
LKR 5’000, 2’000, 1’000, 500, 100, 50, 20 and
10. Major credit cards are widely accepted, and
travellers’ cheques in US dollars or Sterling
pounds are recommended. ATMs are commonly
available. Foreign currency can be exchanged at
bureaux de change, banks and hotels.
The following are the
five main currencies' exchange rates against the
LKR as at 27 March 2012 are as follows:
USD 1 = LKR 128
GBP 1 = LKR 204
Euro 1 = LKR 160
CHF 1 = LKR 141
AUD$ 1 = LKR 134
Several sites are
available to check the latest exchange rates of
which
www.xe.com
Hilton Colombo
is located right next to Colombo World Trade Center (WTC),
the foremost landmark building in and is directly linked to
the WTC a walkway. The branches of the HSBC, Pan Asia Bank,
Hatton National Bank with ATMs are established in the
premises of the WTC.
SOCIAL PROGRAMME
TRCSL has
organized several social events including sightseeing,
cultural events, dinners etc. for the GSR
delegates during their stay in Sri Lanka.
·
Cultural event followed by Welcome Dinner at BMICH on 2
October 2012.
·
Music with Band in Attendance followed by Dinner at Waters
Edge Resort on 3 October 2012.
·
Musical Show with Dancing followed by Dinner at Cinnamon
Grand Hotel on 4 October 2012.
·
A full day excursion is arranged on 5 October 2012. TRCSL
has selected the places of cultural & nature attraction and
world heritage sites located in the interior of the country.
Further details will be provided at the GSR meeting. The
delegates those who wish to join the excursion are kindly
requested to adjust their travel itinerary accordingly.
Complete file in pdf
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